NEW ENGLAND 3, GALAXY 1: Galaxy appear to remain on hiatus

CARSON - Landon Donovan was given the night off by the Galaxy. David Beckham was given the night off after the first half.

That's the official news.

In reality, all of the Galaxy took the night off and they suffered a 3-1 loss to the New England Revolution on Saturday at Home Depot Center.

The Galaxy trailed 2-0 in the first 13 minutes to a team that had scored only one goal in the first three games of the season. Coach Bruce Arena called the substitution of Beckham a tactical decision.

"I just felt we needed a little bit more ... we needed to make a change in the midfield," Arena said. "Purely coach's decision."

It might look like Beckham might be taking the fall, but Arena had a further explanation.

"I couldn't change 11 players," Arena said. "That's what I told the team at halftime. If I had 11 substitutions, I would have considered that.

"I'm sure he's not pleased about it, but that's not the issue in the game. The issue in the game was that 11 players from New England soundly outplayed 11 players from the Galaxy."

The Galaxy (1-2, all home games) look a long way off from the 2011 MLS championship squad that went unbeaten in 2011 at home.

What was more troubling was Saturday's loss marked the third time in 2012 the Galaxy have been down by two goals. That five-game stretch includes the two CONCACAF Champions League games against Toronto FC.

The Galaxy were making a go of it with a revamped midfield. In place of Donovan, who had a sore thigh, was Paolo Cardozo, and with Mike Magee also nursing adductor tightness Marcelo Sarvas took his spot on the left side of midfield.

At times, the Galaxy were dangerous, but New England shredded them going the other way.

It started three minutes in, when forward Ryan Guy cruised in alone on the side before being stopped.

The Galaxy fell apart in a three-minute span.

Revolution midfielder Lee Nguyen floated in a cross that had to be cleared off the line by defender A.J. DeLaGarza. Moments later, midfielder Shalrie Joseph sent a pass that lofted behind the Galaxy backline and Kelyn Rowe was all alone.

Goalkeeper Josh Saunders stopped the first shot, but the rebound came right back to Rowe (UCLA) and he tapped in the volley for a 1-0 lead just 10 minutes in.

Three minutes later, defender Kevin Alston and Joseph played give-and-go on the side, with Alston taking the ball in and passing back. It went behind a pack of players racing in on goal, and New England defender Chris Tierney raced in, beat midfielder Paolo Cardozo to the ball and knocked it in for a 2-0 lead.

As much as Donovan helps his team offensively, he has endeared himself to coaches and teammates by coming back on defense to help snuff out those kinds of opportunities.

"The first half was poor," Arena said. "I think some bad communication in the early going cost us a couple goals. We were never sharp on any play in the first half. "Sloppy in every aspect of the game on both sides of the ball."

Saef Sene, heading in a perfect pass from Ryan Guy in the 65 th minute, made it 3-0.

The Galaxy goal came in the 78 th minute, when Edson Buddle threaded a perfect pass between two defenders to Robbie Keane, who made one move and beat goalkeeper Matt Reis (UCLA) to make it 3-1.

Saunders had to be called on in the 25 th minute when Joseph sent Tierney in - yes, with space - on the side, but his shot was turned away.

Ten minutes later, Tierney had another chance with a free kick from about 30 yards, but Saunders dive to his left to make a midair save.

Buddle and Keane came close to cutting the lead in half in the first minute of stoppage time. Defender Stephen McCarthy slipped and Keane took possession and passed forward to Buddle, who challenged defender A.J. Soares and Reis, but his shot whistled past the post. Had Buddle peered to his right, Keane was standing alone with an open net in front of him.

Beckham did have two chances with free kicks late in the first half.

In the 39 th minute from 31 yards, his shot had to be tipped away from the upper corner of the net at the last moment by Reis.

In the third minute of stoppage time, Beckham got another try from 29 yards. He skipped his shot in front of Reis, who got a hand on it and the ball clipped the goal post.